LncRNA TTTY15 regulates hypoxia-induced vascular endothelial cell injury via targeting miR-186-5p in cardiovascular disease

OBJECTIVE

Dysfunction of vascular endothelial cells was associated with diverse human diseases, including cardiovascular disease. Long noncoding RNAs (LncRNAs) were involved in the regulation of cell injury. We aimed to investigate the role of lncRNA testis-specific transcript, Y-linked 15 (TTTY15) in hypoxia-induced cell injury in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Cell counting kit-8 (CCK8) assay was used to check cell viability. Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assay kit and flow cytometry were utilized to evaluate the leakage rate of LDH and cell apoptosis, respectively. The protein levels of Cyclin D1 and B-cell lymphoma-2-Associated X (Bax) in hypoxia-induced HUVECs were measured by Western blot. Quantitative Real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was conducted to detect the expression levels of TTTY15 and miR-186-5p in hypoxia-induced HUVECs. The starBase was utilized to predict the binding sites between TTTY15 and miR-186-5p and the dual-luciferase reporter assay was performed to verify the interaction.

RESULTS

Hypoxia inhibited cell viability and promoted the release of LDH and cell apoptosis in HUVECs. Besides, hypoxia significantly decreased the protein level of Cyclin D1 and increased the protein level of Bax in HUVECs. In addition, the expression level of TTTY15 was obviously upregulated in hypoxia-induced HUVECs, opposite to the level of miR-186-5p. Meanwhile, knockdown of TTTY15 or upregulation of miR-186-5p mitigated hypoxia-induced cell injury in HUVECs. Further studies suggested that TTTY15 targeted miR-186-5p and regulated hypoxia-induced cell injury via interacting with miR-186-5p in HUVECs.

CONCLUSIONS

Downregulation of TTTY15 ameliorated hypoxia-induced cell injury by targeting miR-186-5p in HUVECs.

Using deep-learning algorithms to classify fetal brain ultrasound images as normal or abnormal

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the feasibility of using deep-learning algorithms to classify as normal or abnormal sonographic images of the fetal brain obtained in standard axial planes.

METHODS

We included in the study images retrieved from a large hospital database from 10 251 normal and 2529 abnormal pregnancies. Abnormal cases were confirmed by neonatal ultrasound, follow-up examination or autopsy. After a series of pretraining data processing steps, 15 372 normal and 14 047 abnormal fetal brain images in standard axial planes were obtained. These were divided into training and test datasets (at case level rather than image level), at a ratio of approximately 8:2. The training data were used to train the algorithms for three purposes: performance of image segmentation along the fetal skull, classification of the image as normal or abnormal and localization of the lesion. The accuracy was then tested on the test datasets, with performance of segmentation being assessed using precision, recall and Dice's coefficient (DICE), calculated to measure the extent of overlap between human-labeled and machine-segmented regions. We assessed classification accuracy by calculating the sensitivity and specificity for abnormal images. Additionally, for 2491 abnormal images, we determined how well each lesion had been localized by overlaying heat maps created by an algorithm on the segmented ultrasound images; an expert judged these in terms of how satisfactory was the lesion localization by the algorithm, classifying this as having been done precisely, closely or irrelevantly.

RESULTS

Segmentation precision, recall and DICE were 97.9%, 90.9% and 94.1%, respectively. For classification, the overall accuracy was 96.3%. The sensitivity and specificity for identification of abnormal images were 96.9% and 95.9%, respectively, and the area under the receiver-operating-characteristics curve was 0.989 (95% CI, 0.986-0.991). The algorithms located lesions precisely in 61.6% (1535/2491) of the abnormal images, closely in 24.6% (614/2491) and irrelevantly in 13.7% (342/2491).

CONCLUSIONS

Deep-learning algorithms can be trained for segmentation and classification of normal and abnormal fetal brain ultrasound images in standard axial planes and can provide heat maps for lesion localization. This study lays the foundation for further research on the differential diagnosis of fetal intracranial abnormalities. Copyright © 2020 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

MiR-574-3p exerts as a tumor suppressor in ovarian cancer through inhibiting MMP3 expression

OBJECTIVE

The mortality rate of ovarian cancer (OC) has always been the highest among all female reproductive system malignant tumors. Currently, miRNAs have been verified to participate in the tumorigenesis and prognosis of OC. However, the expression and function of miR-574-3p in OC have not been fully elucidated.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

The expression level of miR-574-3p in OC tissues and cells was detected using quantitative Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR). By transfection of miR-574-3p mimics or inhibitor, the expression of miR-574-3p in SW626 or A2780 cells was up-regulated or down-regulated, respectively. Cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) and colony formation assays were used to measure the proliferation of transfected OC cells. Meanwhile, the transwell assay was applied to detect the migration and invasion abilities of OC cells. Furthermore, dual-luciferase reporter gene analysis and Western blot were utilized to explore the underlying downstream molecules for miR-574-3p in OC.

RESULTS

MiR-574-3p was lowly expressed in OC tissue samples when compared with para-tumor tissues. Meanwhile, the expression of miR-574-3p in OC-derived cells was significantly lower than normal control HOSE cells. The overexpression of miR-574-3p markedly reduced the proliferation, invasion, and migration of SW626 cells. However, the inhibition of miR-574-3p remarkably accelerated the growth and metastasis of A2780 cells. MMP3 was verified as a direct target for miR-574-3p in OC. In addition, miR-574-3p could reduce the protein expression of MMP3 by binding to its 3'-untranslated region (3'-UTR).

CONCLUSIONS

MiR-574-3p functioned as a tumor suppressor in OC, which might be served as a potential target for the diagnosis and therapy for OC.

Horizontal sound localisation and speech perception in Bonebridge-implanted single-sided deafness patients

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to investigate the benefit of Bonebridge devices in patients with single-sided deafness.

METHOD

Five patients with single-sided deafness who were implanted with Bonebridge devices were recruited in a single-centre study. Participants' speech perception and horizontal sound localisation abilities were assessed at 6 and 12 months post-operatively. Speech intelligibility in noisy environments was measured in three different testing conditions (speech and noise presented from the front, speech and noise presented from the front and contralateral (normal ear) side separately, and speech presented from the ipsilateral (implanted Bonebridge) side and noise from the contralateral side). Sound localisation was evaluated in Bonebridge-aided and Bonebridge-unaided conditions at different stimuli levels (65, 70 and 75 dB SPL).

RESULTS

All participants showed a better capacity for speech intelligibility in quiet environments with the Bonebridge device. The speech recognition threshold with the Bonebridge device was significantly decreased at both short- and long-term follow up in the speech presented from the ipsilateral (implanted Bonebridge) side and noise from the contralateral side condition (p < 0.05). Additionally, participants maintained similar levels of sound localisation between the Bonebridge-aided and unaided conditions (p > 0.05). However, the accuracy of localisation showed some improvement at 70 dB SPL and 75 dB SPL post-operatively.

CONCLUSION

The Bonebridge device provides the benefit of improved speech perception performance in patients with single-sided deafness. Sound localisation abilities were neither improved nor worsened with Bonebridge implantation at the follow-up assessments.

Lee Silverman Voice Treatment for dysarthria in patients with Parkinson's disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Approximately 89% of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) suffer from dysarthria. Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT), a behavioral therapy, aims to improve speech and voice functions. The objective was to assess the effectiveness of LSVT compared with other/no speech interventions for dysarthria in patients with PD. Electronic databases, including PubMed, Embase and the Cochrane Library, were searched. The publication date of all included studies was before 6 March 2020. Only randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that evaluated the LSVT intervention compared with other/no speech intervention were considered. The data obtained from the included studies were described and the mean differences were calculated. Eight RCTs were included in this meta-analysis comparing LSVT with other/no speech interventions. In the comparison of LSVT versus no intervention, vocal intensity for sustained 'Ah' phonation, reading the 'Rainbow passage', monologue and describing a picture increased by 8.87, 4.34, 3.25 and 3.31 dB, respectively, after 1 month of therapy. Compared with the respiratory therapy group, the LSVT group also showed significant improvement in vocal intensity for sustained 'Ah' phonation, reading the 'Rainbow passage' and monologue immediately after treatment (13.39, 6.66 and 3.19 dB). Positive improvement still existed after 24 months. There was no difference in the therapeutic effect between face-to-face and online LSVT. The effectiveness of LSVT for dysarthria in patients with PD was verified in these trials. However, future RCTs with sufficient participants are essential to evaluate the effectiveness of LSVT for dysarthria.

Testing for causality between systematically identified risk factors and glioma: a Mendelian randomization study

BACKGROUND

Whilst epidemiological studies have provided evidence of associations between certain risk factors and glioma onset, inferring causality has proven challenging. Using Mendelian randomization (MR), we assessed whether associations of 36 reported glioma risk factors showed evidence of a causal relationship.

METHODS

We performed a systematic search of MEDLINE from inception to October 2018 to identify candidate risk factors and conducted a meta-analysis of two glioma genome-wide association studies (5739 cases and 5501 controls) to form our exposure and outcome datasets. MR analyses were performed using genetic variants to proxy for candidate risk factors. We investigated whether risk factors differed by subtype diagnosis (either glioblastoma (n = 3112) or non-glioblastoma (n = 2411)). MR estimates for each risk factor were determined using multiplicative random effects inverse-variance weighting (IVW). Sensitivity analyses investigated potential pleiotropy using MR-Egger regression, the weighted median estimator, and the mode-based estimator. To increase power, trait-specific polygenic risk scores were used to test the association of a genetically predicated increase in each risk factor with glioma onset.

RESULTS

Our systematic search identified 36 risk factors that could be proxied using genetic variants. Using MR, we found evidence that four genetically predicted traits increased risk of glioma, glioblastoma or non-glioblastoma: longer leukocyte telomere length, liability to allergic disease, increased alcohol consumption and liability to childhood extreme obesity (> 3 standard deviations from the mean). Two traits decreased risk of non-glioblastoma cancers: increased low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLc) and triglyceride levels. Our findings were similar across sensitivity analyses that made allowance for pleiotropy (genetic confounding).

CONCLUSIONS

Our comprehensive investigation provides evidence of a causal link between both genetically predicted leukocyte telomere length, allergic disease, alcohol consumption, childhood extreme obesity, and LDLc and triglyceride levels, and glioma. The findings from our study warrant further research to uncover mechanisms that implicate these traits in glioma onset.

[Efficacy of minimally invasive pulmonary surfactant administration in preterm infants with neonatal respiratory distress syndrome: a multicenter clinical trial]

Objective: To explore the feasibility and safety of minimally invasive surfactant administration (MISA) in preterm neonates with respiratory distress syndrome (NRDS). Methods: In this multicenter prospective randomized controlled trial, 92 preterm infants with gestation age ≤30 weeks and diagnosed with NRDS were enrolled in 8 level Ⅲ neonatal intensive care units (NICU) in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region from 1(st) July 2017 to 31(st) December 2018. They were randomly assigned to minimally invasive surfactant administration (MISA) group or endotracheal intubation surfactant administration (EISA) group according to random number generated by computer. Infants in both groups received calf pulmonary surfactant preparation at a dose of 70-100 mg/kg. The data of demography, perinatal situation, medication administration, complications, clinical outcomes in the two groups were compared with Chi-square test, Student's t-test, Mann-Whitney U test or Fisher's exact test. Results: Among the 92 preterm infants, 53 were males, 39 were females; 47 were in the MISA group (25 males), and 45 were in the EISA group (28 males). The gestational age and birth weight were (29.5±1.2) weeks and (1 271±242) g in all patients, (29.5±1.4) weeks and (1 285±256) g in the MISA group, and (29.6±0.9) weeks and (1 255±227) g in the EISA group. The duration of surfactant infusion and the length of whole procedure in the MISA group were significantly longer than that in the EISA group (60 (18, 270) s vs. 50 (30, 60) s, Z=3.009, P=0.003; 90 (60, 300) s vs. 60 (44, 270) s, Z=3.365, P=0.001). For the outcomes, the incidence of hemodynamically significant patent ductus arteriosus (hsPDA) and bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) were lower in the MISA group than in the EISA group (36% (17/47) vs. 67% (30/45), χ(2)=8.556, P=0.003; 26% (12/47) vs. 47% (21/45), χ(2)=4.464, P=0.035). Conclusions: Minimally invasive surfactant administration is applicable in preterm infants ≤30 weeks gestational age with NRDS. Although the length of whole procedure is longer than route endotracheal administration, the benefit of decreasing the incidences of hsPDA and BPD outweighs this demerit.

Negative magnetization, complex magnetic ordering and applications of Cr-doped Co2TiO4

Polycrystalline Co2Ti1-xCrxO4 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.2) inverse spinel ceramics have been synthesized via a sol-gel technique. The dc magnetization measurement in the field-cooled mode shows that negative magnetization could be observed until x reaches 0.2. The exchange constants are calculated using the ferrimagnetic Curie-Weiss fitting and the mean-field theory. This reveals that the strength of the inter sublattice magnetic interaction presents a non-monotonic trend with the increase in Cr content and reaches the minimum at x = 0.1, giving rise to the highest compensation temperature in the x = 0.1 sample. The applicability of the x = 0.1 sample is investigated in light of two prominent magnetic effects: (i) the stable magnetic switching effect indicates the potential applications in magnetic switching and data storage and (ii) the coexistence of normal and inverse magnetocaloric effects suggests a potential application in a constant temperature bath at 54 K.

Evaluation of synuclein-γ levels by novel monoclonal antibody in saliva and cancer tissues from oral squamous cell carcinoma patients

The clinical value of synuclein-γ (SNCG) in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) was evaluated by detecting the expression of SNCG in saliva and tissues and its correlation with clinicopathological parameters (age, gender, ethnicity, degree of differentiation, clinical stage, and lymph node metastasis). Salivary samples were collected from 79 patients with OSCC, 31 patients with oral premalignant lesions (OPMLs), such as oral lichen planus, oral leukoplakia, and erythema, and 80 controls, and levels of SNCG in salivary samples were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Tissue expression in formalin-fixed tissue biopsies of 94 cases of OSCC and 30 adjacent normal tissues was analyzed by immunohistochemistry (IHC) using an antibody against SNCG. The results showed that the salivary levels of SNCG in patients with OSCC and OPMLs were significantly higher than those detected in the control group (p<0.001). The immunohistochemical results showed that SNCG was highly expressed in tumor cells of OSCC patients, with low expression in the adjacent normal epithelium (p<0.001, OR=6.074). Salivary SNCG level correlated with differentiation (p=0.022). Besides, the expression of SNCG in OSCC tissues was also significantly associated with differentiation (p<0.001).

[Clinical features of 54 cases of lung adenocarcinomas with c-ROS oncogene 1 fusion]

Objective: To study the prevalence of c-ros oncogene 1 fusion in lung adenocarcinoma and to evaluate its relationship with clinical characteristics. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation, anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) and c-ros oncogene 1 (ROS1) fusion in 1 482 patients with adenocarcinoma from March 2014 to January 2017 in the first affiliated hospital of Zhejiang University. Furthermore, ROS1 fusion positive patients diagnosed between February 2017 and December 2017 were also included in ROS1 positive group. The data of age, sex, smoking history, TNM stage and chest computed tomography were collected by Electronic Medical Record (EMR). The clinical data were compared by the chi-squared test or Mann-Whitney test. Results: Of these 1 482 patients,54 cases were diagnosed with ROS1 rearrangement, including 19 males and 35 females, while 73 cases were diagnosed with ALK rearrangement, including 28 males and 45 females, and 679 cases diagnosed with EGFR mutation including 293 males and 386 females. And there were 676 patients without driven genes mutation. The mean age in ROS1 fusion group (54±12) was lower than EGFR mutation group (60±11, z=-3.982, P<0.001) and WT group (62±10, z=-4.944, P<0.001). Female proportion in ROS1 fusion group (64.8%, 35/54) was higher than WT group (28.4%, 192/676, χ(2)=30.94, P<0.001). Non-smoker percentages in ROS1 fusion group (72.2%, 39/54) was significantly higher than WT group (38.0%,257/676, χ(2)=24.27, P<0.001). ROS1 fusion group was similar to ALK fusion group in sex, age and smoking history, and there were no significant difference in TNM stage among these groups. On chest CT, adenocarcinomas with ROS1 fusion were found to be more peripheral in location (71.4%, 20/28) and solid in density (75%, 21/28), usually with lobulated margins (75.0%, 21/28) and spiculated in contour (57.1%,16/28). Conclusion: In our study lung adenocarcinoma with c-ROS oncogene 1 fusion was a rare subtype lung cancer and was usually detected in young, never smoking, and female patients.

Cyclophosphamide induces a significant increase in iron content in the liver and spleen of mice

Objective:

Oxidative stress is one of the major mechanisms of cyclophosphamide (CPX)-induced toxicities. However, it is unknown how CPX induces oxidative stress. Based on the available information, we speculated that CPX could increase iron content in the tissues and then induce oxidative stress.

Method:

We tested this hypothesis by investigating the effects of CPX on iron and ferritin contents, expression of transferrin receptor 1 (TfR1), ferroportin 1 (Fpn1), iron regulatory proteins (IRPs), hepcidin, and nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor-2 (Nrf2) in the liver and spleen, and also on reticulocyte count, immature reticulocyte fraction, and hemoglobin (Hb) in the blood in c57/B6 mouse.

Results:

We demonstrated that CPX could induce a significant increase in iron contents and ferritin expression in the liver and spleen, notably inhibit erythropoiesis and Hb synthesis and lead to a reduction in iron usage. The reduced expression in TfR1 and Fpn1 is a secondary effect of CPX-induced iron accumulation in the liver and spleen and also partly associated with the suppressed IRP/iron-responsive element system, upregulation of hepcidin, and downregulation of Nrf2.

Conclusions:

The reduced iron usage is one of the causes for iron overload in the liver and spleen and the increased tissue iron might be one of the mechanisms for CPX to induce oxidative stress and toxicities.

Rapid Determination of 13 Sedative Substances and Their Metabolites in Blood by LC-MS/MS

Objective To establish an analysis method for simultaneous determination of 13 sedative substances and their metabolites in blood by liquid-liquid extraction and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry （LC-MS/MS） technology and to apply the method to actual cases. Methods The samples were extracted with ethyl acetate after an internal standard was added. The extract was condensed until it was nearly dry and then its residues were dissolved with methanol, filtered through 0.22 μm filter and finally determined. The 13 sedative substances and their metabolites were separated through the C₁₈ chromatographic column, then gradient elution was performed on them with methanol and 20 mmol/L ammonium formate （containing 0.1% formic acid） solution. After that, they were determined in the electrospray positive ion mode and quantified by internal standard method. Results The 13 sedative substances and their metabolites in blood showed good linearity in the range of 5-200 μg/L with correlation coefficients ranging from 0.990 3 to 0.999 8. The detection limits were 0.1-1.0 μg/L. Recovery rates of sedative substances were in the range of 71.2%-93.4% when solutions with concentrations of 10, 50 and 200 μg/L were added. The deviations of intra-day and inter-day relative standard deviations （RSD） were not more than 8.6%. Accuracies （bias） were within ±9.8%. Conclusion This method is rapid, simple, effective and sensitive, and can be applied to analysis of 13 sedative substances and their metabolites in blood in forensic toxicology.

Survival physiology and sex ratio of the Chinese white pine beetle Dendroctonus armandi (Coleoptera: Scolytinae) during host colonization and overwintering

The Chinese white pine beetle Dendroctonus armandi (Coleoptera: Scolytinae) typically displays bivoltinism at altitudes below 1700 m in the Qinling Mountains, China. The periods of host colonization and larval overwintering are two important phases in the life cycle of bark beetles, as it is during these periods that they have to contend with host plant defences and periods of intense cold, respectively. Although during different seasons, the females and males of Chinese white pine beetles show varying tolerances to host plant terpenoids, the sex ratio and survival physiology condition of the two beetle generations are unknown. We investigated the sex ratio of individuals, and also examined the body mass, energy stores, and detoxication enzymes of males and females in each of the two generations in order to determine the overall population stability of each generation. We identified a female-biased sex ratio among adults in both generations. Furthermore, patterns of body mass, energy stores, and detoxication enzymes were found to differ between the two sexes and two seasons. Compared with the males, the females have a larger body mass and higher amounts of stored lipids, which are assumed to be adaptations designed to overcome host resistance and facilitate subsequent oviposition.